Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning. 945.
[00:00:07] Good morning. If I have not. Merry Christmas. If I have not had the opportunity to meet you, my name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here and I have the joy to open up God's word this morning with you. Before we jump into it, I have one quick announcement. So at the end of every year, there's a bunch of you who give year end gifts. And those make a huge difference. And so we kind of the way we do money at Village Church is we just sort of tell you what it is. And one of the things I love about pastoring Village Church is we just tell you what's going on and you go pray about it and then your unbelievable generosity just always comes through. So I want to thank you for that. So year end above and beyond our normal giving, we are about just under 4% short of meeting our budget needs, which is awesome. The number sounds big, but when you take into consideration the total budget, it's like 3.8%, I think. So 77 above and beyond our regular giving. And so just want to tell you that so you can go pray about it. And then for those of you who do year end gifts, our goal is to exceed that number. Amen. Village Church sound good? All right. If you have a Bible, open up to the book of Luke. We're going to be in chapter two this morning. And so I want to kind of just start off and I want to talk to all of you moms and dads in, in the room. So kids, listen up. But this is for mom and dad.
[00:01:34] Do you remember the time when you found out you were pregnant?
[00:01:40] Some of you wept, some of you said, oh, no, I'm not ready.
[00:01:47] For some of you, it was this moment of just like, this has been my dream and what I've been waiting for.
[00:01:54] People are all over the board and how they respond to that moment. But here's one thing we do know. When you hear you're pregnant, after all the fear and the what ifs, it's fair to say that most parents just have this vision for their child. These dreams, these hopes. And generally speaking, like, we're petrified, but we are optimistic. And I think this is just a fair statement. Okay? Moms and dads, all of us, we want what is best for our children. Amen. Now if that's not you, well, you don't count. So I'm talking to all the other people here, okay? We want what is best for.
[00:02:29] And I want you to just think about this when you go Back into that moment or even, like, right now. When you think about your kids, what are your dreams for your kids?
[00:02:37] Like, what are the things that, when you think about them, you really want to see happen in their life?
[00:02:44] Now, here's the deal. As mom and dad, we have a whole bunch of scripts, right? And especially for dads, I think there's this thing inside of us where we either want them to be just like us and they're like, here's what I'm good at. Here's my craft. Or we. Where, like, so help me God, don't become anything like me, right? Like, there's kind of two ways that dads do this, but there are these hopes and these dreams. And so when you have a vision for your child, there are kind of 2x factors that if these things aren't aligned, it doesn't matter what hopes and dreams you have for them. They're just not gonna happen. And here's kind of the first X factor. It is the will of the person.
[00:03:18] Have you ever had a dream for your child that your child didn't have for themselves?
[00:03:22] Some of you are like, yeah, and here's the deal. If they don't want your dream, your script, your vision, good luck. When they're out of the house, that thing ain't happening. And one of the first things you learn as a mom, as a dad, is the one thing you cannot control is the will of your child.
[00:03:38] You can steer it, you can guide it, but at the end of the day, that kid leaves your home and even behind your back does things that you just cannot control him. The second X factor is the plan of God.
[00:03:51] Every one of us as moms and dads, we have to take this vision, these dreams, these hopes that we have for our children, and we have to lay them down before the Lord and ask this question, God, what is your plan for my kid's life?
[00:04:07] So as they get older, our vision and hopes and dreams, they don't go away. They tend to get clarified. They. Now, I wanna remind you of this. Like, as a mom and dad, one of our jobs is to draw out what God has put inside the heart and mind of our children.
[00:04:24] And it is to give vocabulary as they grow up to the things that God has put inside of them. And God gives every single child a very unique personality. Amen. From all the parents.
[00:04:36] Very unique personality. God has given each child, and this is important, unique limitations.
[00:04:43] God has given each child unique abilities, unique passions, and unique challenges and heartaches. And what we find is that sometimes God's plan or purpose for our life comes out of our most challenging or tragic moments. And so we step back and we say, God, who have you made them to be? And why have you allowed them to have these circumstances in their lives? And if most kids are being honest, what they desperately want is for their mother and especially their father to have and speak over them a vision for their life.
[00:05:17] What most kids want is for their parents to call out with their words what they see that God has put inside of them. And what we as kids, what we did and we're doing, is all of these words. And it could be words from our mom, our dad, our grandparents, our best friends, mentors at the church. It could be these life experiences, the personality God gave us. All of these are like puzzle pieces. And what we're trying to do as we grow up is figure out, God, why did you put me on this planet?
[00:05:48] Why did you make me?
[00:05:50] Why am I here? I know I'm here to glorify you and to build your kingdom and to love you, but what is it unique about me? And all these things are like puzzle pieces, and they come together.
[00:06:00] Now, here's the deal. I chose this introduction on purpose, because what I want every single mom and dad in this room to do is I want you to just kind of emotionally put yourself in the position of a parent who has longings and dreams and aspirations for your children.
[00:06:17] Because it's Christmas time. And at Christmas time, here's what we do. We read familiar stories, and the habit and the pattern is we go, oh, know that story. And then we check out. But what I want you to do in this story is I want you to take a moment, and I want you to immerse yourself in Mary's shoes. You can do this if you're a father. You can do this with your mother. You can also do this if you're a child.
[00:06:38] And I want you to try to put yourself in her position. Now, here's the deal.
[00:06:41] This is a Christmas story that you probably won't hear a ton preached in church. Now, one of the things I love about Christmas stories is if you notice very few of them actually happen in the Christmas season. You think about the story where the angel shows up to Mary. Well, that's like nine months before Christmas, by the way. Do the math. You think about the Wise men, right? That's two years after Jesus is born. So kind of in the Christmas narratives, we take them all, we merge them all together, we put them into this thing called the Christmas story. So this morning, the story we're gonna look at is in Luke chapter two. So if you have a Bible, turn to Luke chapter two. And what this is, this takes place 40 days after Jesus is born. And it's a Christmas story. Why? Because it's in Luke chapters one and two. There we go. Now, 40 days after Jesus was born, the parents had a legal and traditional obligation to bring Jesus back to the temple to be dedicated. And so they have come back to Jerusalem, they are at the temple, and they are dedicating Jesus. And they meet a strange but really amazing man. His name is Simeon.
[00:07:48] You should know this. There are eight different Simeons in the Bible. Okay? So this is just one of them. And so this is the only time he comes up. But In Luke chapter 2, verse 25, we meet a man named Simeon. And here's what it says.
[00:08:00] Now, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was. Say it with me, Simeon. And this man was righteous, and this man was devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And why do they need to be consoled? Well, for centuries, they've been living under Roman occupation or occupation of different lands. They're being oppressed. They're waiting.
[00:08:21] And this is important. It says next that the Holy Spirit was upon him. Verse 26.
[00:08:28] It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ.
[00:08:38] This is a unfamiliar way to frame it, but Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. So literally, Simeon, you're not going to die. So the Holy Spirit tells him, until you have seen with your eyes the Messiah that the Lord has set aside for the nation of Israel and the world, the one that you guys, by the way, have been chomping at the bit for. For a long time. And that for literally centuries, the. The prophets have been prophesying would come. Simeon, you're not going to die until you lay your eyes on the Lord's Christ or Messiah. Now look at verse 27. And if you really consider this for a moment, it's super weird.
[00:09:15] And he, Simeon, came in the Spirit into the temple. Okay, I just need to say this. He didn't float into the temple. Okay? This means that the Holy Spirit prompted him and was like, simeon, get up. You know those moments where, like, you just have to do a thing and you don't know why, in. In retrospect, you realize God was moving you to do it. And so this is the day, Simeon, get up. You're going to the temple. Chop, chop. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law. And he, Simeon, took him, Jesus up in his arms and blessed God and said, okay, pause. If some old dude takes my baby and holds him up like Simba, okay, I'm going to grab the baby back. But that's essentially what's going on here. Okay.
[00:10:03] Simeon has two Holy Spirit inspired prophetic words.
[00:10:08] The first is gonna be a public word. So everybody kind of around is going to hear this public word.
[00:10:14] But the second word, it's going to be a private word. It's going to be a private word. It would appear, the way the text is laid out, it's going to be just for Mary's ears only.
[00:10:25] First we get the public prophetic word. And it's actually. This is structured as a song or a poem about Jesus from Simeon. He sees him, picks him up, sings a poem, and this is what is said.
[00:10:42] Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. Verse 30.
[00:10:51] For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people, Israel. So we're gonna stop for a moment, talk about the public prophetic word over Jesus. And I'm gonna be honest. This is vision. I can get around. If you're gonna, like, come to me and be like, your child's gonna change the world. It's gonna bring the word of God to a bunch of people. It's gonna be awesome. He's gonna bring glory back to God's people. I'd say, yeah, let's do it. Okay. Number one, he will be Jesus salvation for all. Now, what's striking is that when you read these prophets, when you read these people giving prophetic words in the Bible, they often don't understand the fullness of what. What they're saying. But the Holy Spirit is leading them to that. And then over time, as they look back, things become more and more clear to them. And here's what you know. So if you're kind of new to the Bible, let me break this down. The Jews were expecting a messiah. Got it. When he came, he was going to bring global peace and salvation from sins. Okay. What they did not expect is that he would come first to bring salvation from sins and then wait like 2000 years until he comes again to bring global peace. So they thought all of this was gonna be converged in the first coming. And then what we find out is like, no, he's gonna do all of it. The first half will be in the first coming. The second half will be in the second coming. So we wait for Jesus to come back, not to pay the price for sins that's done. We're waiting for him to come back to bring justice to the world and to bring a reign of peace over the globe and to eradicate sin from this world. Amen. Village church Amen. We're not there yet. We're living between the two comings. And so here's this idea.
[00:12:34] We don't know that Simeon understands all that is being inferred by these prophetic words.
[00:12:41] But here's what we do know. That Israel and you and me and the whole world, we need salvation from sin. And we need salvation from sin in this world. We need peace with God. And we wanna live in a world where peace reigns everywhere forever. And that will only ever happen under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
[00:13:01] Mary, this child will be salvation for all. But number two, Mary, this child will be light for those who don't have God's Word.
[00:13:13] What we see all throughout history and in the world is when people do not have divine revelation from God, when they don't have his word, they are left to two things.
[00:13:22] They are left, number one, to their conscience, which is almost always seared. And they are left to their impulses, which are almost always self centered.
[00:13:32] And so what every single person all over the world needs is truth beyond just our seared consciences. And we need to know what is right and wrong above and beyond just what I want in that moment. And so one of the promises is that Jesus, you're Mary, you're so is gonna bring light for revelation. Where there is darkness, where there is no Word, people who don't have the Word are gonna receive it. And even right now, this is actually a moment of fulfillment of this promise. Because me, a Gentile, is proclaiming light revelation given by Jesus to a whole bunch of other primarily Gentiles about the truth of what God's word says and who he is and what's happening in this world. And so here's what we find is that by the ministry of Jesus, and what we find in those who came after him is that the word of the light of God is going to bring revelation to an unbelievably dark world. And it's going to show them what is real and what is true.
[00:14:28] Simeon says, number three, Jesus will be glory.
[00:14:32] And I want to, I added in here a word to kind of make sense of this glory and vindication for God's people.
[00:14:38] Verse 32. It says, for glory to your people of Israel. And here's what he's saying.
[00:14:45] Mary, your child, I don't have a better way to say this, so forgive me for the vocabulary is going to make Israel great again.
[00:14:53] Okay?
[00:14:54] Your child is going to take a broken down people who've been enslaved for centuries and bring them back to their glory. And the Scriptures teach that when this happens, there's going to be vindication for all of the people who have oppressed them. There's going to be justice in this moment.
[00:15:12] And so when he says that Jesus is gonna bring glory back to Israel, what he's saying is he's gonna restore them to the place that God has for them and then some. And the Scriptures teach that the Messiah would reign from Jerusalem over a global peace of Jews and Gentiles over the entire world. And so what he's saying is your son is gonna be behind bringing glory back to the nation of Israel that was stolen centuries ago. Okay? If you're Mary, can you get behind this vision? He's going to bring salvation and the word and glory to your nation. Amen. I'm all in. But that's not where the prophecy ends. So then Simeon sort of, it appears, kind of has a side conversation. I don't know if he took Mary aside, but it appears to be, by the way this text is written, it's sort of like a one on one conversation between Simeon and Mary. And he's going to share with her three futures. They are inevitable.
[00:16:04] They are certain there is nothing she or anybody else can do that will stop them. They are part of the cosmic plan of God, the will of God for this child's life.
[00:16:14] And these prophetic words will absolutely crush her soul.
[00:16:23] You all want to know the will of God for your life, right?
[00:16:26] Sometimes you don't want to know the will of God for your life.
[00:16:30] There are some things better waited until they happen.
[00:16:33] But God saw fit in this moment that there are some hard things that this young teenage mother is going to need to know because she has a very unique responsibility to raise somebody who will die.
[00:16:45] Luke, chapter two, verse 34. Future number one. Mary, your son will divide humanity.
[00:16:52] Verse 34 says, Simeon blessed them.
[00:16:55] And then says to Mary, his mother, behold. Listen carefully.
[00:17:02] This child is appointed.
[00:17:05] This child is appointed for the fall.
[00:17:10] This child is also appointed for the rising of many in Israel.
[00:17:16] In other words, this child is going to be rising to very influential political and spiritual leadership.
[00:17:26] He's going to be so significant that he will divide the nation. He's going to be a very controversial figure.
[00:17:35] Now, 2,000 years later, we can put some of the pieces of the puzzle together. And let me just tell to you bluntly how I would say this. Now, how you personally respond to Jesus will determine whether you rise or fall before how you personally respond to Jesus will determine whether or not you rise or you fall before God. And you might hear this and you might go, I disagree. It doesn't matter.
[00:18:00] You might say, I don't like that. Doesn't matter if it is true, it doesn't matter what you feel, it doesn't matter what you think, doesn't matter what your opinion is. If that is true, then how you relate to Jesus will determine whether you rise for eternity, are saved or or fall are damned to hell for eternity. You don't even have to like how that is laid out. You don't have to like the tone with which I'm saying it. You may not even like the fact that I'm just making this as simple as it is. It's either true or it's not. If it's true, it demands a decision from you. If it is true, it is true. But this is kind of the nature of what Jesus does.
[00:18:35] He made people really uncomfortable and he forced them to a decision and people were either for him or they were against him. He's the kind of figure where there wasn't a whole lot of middle ground.
[00:18:48] And so here's what we find is that Mary is going to have to raise this child and he is going to be fundamentally divisive.
[00:18:55] It would appear by Jesus self understanding of his ministry that she did a very effective job as he grew in wisdom and stature of training him with this message. I'll read to you just quickly. Matthew chapter 10, verse 34. Listen to Jesus self understanding of his life purpose.
[00:19:11] He says, do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
[00:19:15] I've not come to bring peace but a sword.
[00:19:19] Okay, does that fit in your nice Jesus category?
[00:19:23] And so here's one of the realities Jesus understood.
[00:19:27] You're going to love him or you're going to hate him and there's not going to be a lot in between.
[00:19:30] And as you try to straddle the line and stay in the middle, inevitably right, you're going to be in a circumstance where you will be either forced to be for him or against him.
[00:19:39] And Mary's job was going to have to be to raise a child who would be able to stand in the face of being hated because he stood for truth.
[00:19:48] Future number two, Mary, your son will be murdered.
[00:19:55] Verse 34. What would the people who were exposed by Jesus do to him? What they did to all the prophets before him?
[00:20:02] Says this, your son will be for a sign that is opposed.
[00:20:06] And then verse 35 brings clarity to what he actually means.
[00:20:10] And a sword will pierce through your own soul also.
[00:20:16] Let me translate this for you, Mary. They will kill your son.
[00:20:22] And you will be alive to watch it.
[00:20:26] And it will crush your soul.
[00:20:28] And there is nothing you can do to stop it.
[00:20:31] All you can do is prepare yourself. And him.
[00:20:37] Years ago there was a student, he was 18, he was in our youth group and he died of cancer. And I remember we were at the funeral home and his mom and dad, you know, they're broken and they're walking around and they're trying to care for everybody. And I was with one of our pastors and I'll never forget what he said to me. I wrote it down because I. It was just one of those unforgettable moments. And he leans over to me and he says, it is the ultimate reversal of the cosmic order that any parent should bury their child.
[00:21:08] I just stopped and I was like, I was young, I was like, I don't think I even be. I don't even think I had the ability in my early 20s to like process as a mom or a dad, like what this would actually mean. And here's the funny thing about death, right?
[00:21:23] When you marry somebody, you know, one of you is gonna watch each other die. You have moms and dads, they're gonna die. You know this. You prepare yourself. You have grandparents, great grandparents, like, you know, like statistically, like you're going to watch them die. This is a part of life. Nobody wants it. Nobody wants it, but you kind of know it, right? But the one relationship that is the ultimate reversal of these things is for a parent to have to watch their son die. And I don't know when you have this conversation, if you're married, like, at what point do you tell your child, here's why you were made? And we know this. Jesus grew in knowledge and wisdom and stature, but he appeared to have a pretty clear self understanding of this purpose.
[00:22:03] In Matthew, verse 20, chapter 20, verse 28, he says this. The Son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom. For many. I mean Jesus self understanding of his purpose is profound.
[00:22:19] And so the Lord I think in his kindness and his graciousness, even though the will of God was crushing for her to know I Think in his kindness he was like, listen, Mary, you're gonna have to prepare your heart and your soul for this because the task I've called you to is beyond imagination.
[00:22:36] Now let's talk about moms and dads for a moment.
[00:22:39] I think we'd agree. If you disagree, come talk to me afterwards.
[00:22:43] Moms are more prone to keep their children safe from physical and emotional harm than dads.
[00:22:51] Amen. Okay, let's call this the mama bear instinct now ladies.
[00:23:00] Unsanctified and out of control, the mama bear instinct protects your children from pain in all circumstances.
[00:23:10] And then your husband comes along and says, little pain's good for him. Rub some dirt on it, right? They'll be fine. Right? This is why moms need dads and dads needs mom. Just one of the many reasons.
[00:23:23] How do you as a mother raise a child and prepare them to suffer it? Actually it forces you to reevaluate little things like when they fall or when they're bleeding, when they're younger, when they get injured, when their feelings are hurt. Little like you think about all the things that happen as kids grow up. And this knowledge fundamentally is going to shape how this woman is going to raise Jesus.
[00:23:51] Future number three, Mary, your son will expose everything, verse 35, so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. How many of you love conspiracies? Anybody?
[00:24:06] Anybody? Come on, there's a few of you.
[00:24:10] These YouTube channels don't get this many posts for no reasons whatsoever.
[00:24:14] Come on, blurry creatures. Anybody? All right, I see you the nephilim for fun. No.
[00:24:23] There is gonna be a day if you ever want a reason to come to Jesus, let me give it to you, okay?
[00:24:28] Where he's gonna tell us the answers to all the conspiracies. All. All of them, Everything.
[00:24:35] But also every dark thought deed anybody, you, anyone has ever done, all that is private will be public domain.
[00:24:46] So with the answers to the conspiracies also comes the revelation of the darkest secret parts of our heart.
[00:24:54] That's a hard one, isn't it? Some of you are like, I think I'm going to try to live a little bit of a holier life if I know that's coming.
[00:25:04] It's no wonder that Jesus was despised. Because by the way, this exposing, it doesn't just happen at the final judgment. Jesus was happy to publicly expose the reality of what was going on in the religious leaders hearts, wasn't he? And even for people who were sinning who came near him, he had this way of kind of gently exposing the Secrets that they didn't think other people knew.
[00:25:27] By the way, the exposing ministry of the Holy Spirit of Jesus doesn't stop. Because now when you trust in Christ, you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and one of the Holy Spirit. One of the things that he does is if you're not a Christian, his job is to draw you to Christ and expose your sin. Like, have you ever had those moments where you're like, I think that's wrong. Like, God's not pleased with this.
[00:25:48] If it's not your conscience, it very well might be the Holy Spirit. But as a believer, when you come to Christ, he is still revealing things about your heart that are not right, your mind, and. And it's like, as soon as you kind of overcome one sin struggle, he's like, all right, now we're gonna reveal another one. Aren't you so glad he doesn't tell you everything wrong with you all at once? Praise God. And just when you think you've arrived, you're like, wow, I'm actually a long way to go. And Jesus and I are not like each other in about a thousand different ways. And so his job is to reveal and to expose sin in us. And sometimes if we're in rebellion, what he'll do is he'll expose it publicly so that we can be drawn to repentance. And then on the day of judgment, he will expose everyone. And what's striking is that on the day of judgment, there's kind of like two kinds of people.
[00:26:31] There's the proud and the humble. And what's interesting is you would think that if you're standing before your Creator, that you would be humble if he exposed your sin. In fact, what we learn is that people gnash their teeth at him. Do you know what that means? It's like, how could you? I hate you so much. That's like a gnashing of your teeth. And then some people are broken on their knees, and they're like, thank you for forgiving me. I've apologized. Like, it's very striking how the proud and the humble respond to the same exposing. It's very different. Now I wanna ask you to turn with me, and I'll put it on the screen, too. To the book of Hebrews, I wanna show you two verses in chapter four. And these are verses I think most people know. And I would like to bring maybe just a little bit of clarity that I think is misunderstood. And I wanna show you this explanation explicitly in the text. Okay, I wanna show you this passage, your immediate for most people, assumption is that it's talking about the Bible. It is not talking about the Bible, it's talking about Jesus. It's not talking about the written word, it's talking about the living word. Okay, I wanna show you this. Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 12.
[00:27:33] For the word of God, Jesus is living. He's not dead and active. He's not twiddling his thumbs in heaven.
[00:27:43] Sharper than any two edged sword. And I want you to notice these verbs piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart, you might say. Wait a minute, Pastor Michael, are you sure this isn't the Bible?
[00:28:00] Go to verse 13.
[00:28:02] Makes it 100% clear.
[00:28:04] No creature is hidden from what's the word, his sight.
[00:28:10] But all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. And by the way, on the day of judgment, are you going to be judged by Jesus or the Bible?
[00:28:25] Jesus, the Bible is the standard by which we are judged. But the person, the judge, jury, trial, executioner, all of it is Jesus.
[00:28:34] And this is why this is so important. Because at the end, when there is a final judgment, we all will stand before Jesus, who is. If you had any doubts, he's very alive, he is very active and he discerns past your words. He goes right into your intentions and your heart and he's gonna reveal everything. And we're all going to be physically and emotionally and psychologically naked, seen for everything we are.
[00:29:03] And you will either be proud or you will be humble. And that will be determined by what you did with Jesus before you died.
[00:29:09] And there are gonna be some who refuse to come to him and they will gnash their teeth at him. And then there will be some who came to him before they died and said, I am sorry for my sins. Forgive me the day of judgment. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm gonna be honest. I'm looking forward to it being over so that I can be with Jesus forever.
[00:29:30] But when my sin and my mind and my emotions are all laid naked before him, I want my knee to be bent and I want to take full ownership of everything I did and give him glory for every single everything I've ever done that has been covered by the blood of Jesus. Now I want to come back to Simeon's words in Luke 2:35, so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.
[00:29:58] So what happens when someone's sin is exposed?
[00:30:02] I'm going to give you the five Primary responses, here they are.
[00:30:07] Panic.
[00:30:08] Oh, God, no.
[00:30:10] Denial.
[00:30:12] I didn't do it. I promise. I didn't do it. Okay. It's the first time. It's the first time. Only this is the first time it's ever happened. Okay, got it.
[00:30:21] Blame shifting.
[00:30:24] God, given what you've allowed in the world, what people have done in your name.
[00:30:27] I'm not sorry. Like, it's your fault, actually. If you were good, you should have stopped this from happening.
[00:30:34] Pride.
[00:30:35] I don't care. I don't care if I get in trouble. I don't care. Fine. Fine. Do what you want. Your kids ever do that to you, by the way?
[00:30:42] Mine haven't.
[00:30:47] They're here.
[00:30:53] Some will repent.
[00:30:55] Forgive me. I was wrong. Forgive me.
[00:30:59] And I think the first four, I'd avoid them if I were you.
[00:31:03] I'd go with the last one. Repentance.
[00:31:07] And so here's the deal. Jesus is not hesitant to expose us before we're Christians. When we're Christians on the day of Judgment and it's progressive, all the things are going to get judged. But he's very, very kind in his goal. And exposure before judgment is to draw you and I to Christ.
[00:31:29] And his goal in exposure after we become Christians is to draw us to holiness.
[00:31:35] Both of which are what we need.
[00:31:39] All caps, N E E D, exclamation point.
[00:31:42] And so if he exposes you, some people are like, how could you? You've ruined my life. Or maybe he loves you more than you can possibly imagine.
[00:31:51] I think it's just better to confess before you need to be exposed.
[00:31:57] I want to share with you two. So what's as we close.
[00:32:02] If she could, Mary would testify before us today.
[00:32:07] The will of God is not always easy.
[00:32:12] Most of us, we do, we want to know God's will. And in our brain, God's will, it's like a rainbow. And at the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold. And that's the will of God. It's going to be delightful and fun.
[00:32:23] Sometimes God's will is hard.
[00:32:26] And sometimes and every person will experience this. Once or a hundred times in your life, God will ask you to endure or to go through something or to do something that you would never choose for yourself.
[00:32:40] In verse 34, Simeon uses a funny word. He uses the word appointed. Behold, this child is appointed. He's appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel. And appoints. A simple word. It means to commission with both a mission and the authority to execute the mission. And Jesus was commissioned from birth by the Father to divide people.
[00:33:04] You can try to avoid it, but your Jesus isn't always nice. He divides.
[00:33:10] He was commissioned to die for sin.
[00:33:12] He was commissioned to expose secrets.
[00:33:15] And this is just his nature to force people to a decision. You hate them or you love them, and you can try to live in the middle, but what you'll find is when you live in the middle long enough, the world just doesn't quite quite tolerate it. You're going to get sucked one way or the other.
[00:33:30] And maybe somebody might say, Pastor Michael, why is this prophecy included in the Christmas narratives? It's heavy Christmas. Supposed to be light and joy, glory and fun and presents. We don't want to be sad. Get to the happy stuff. Can we just enjoy Christmas without bringing everybody down?
[00:33:47] No, we cannot.
[00:33:51] We absolutely cannot.
[00:33:54] Because the Incarnation, it is meaningless without the ugly, disgusting crucifixion.
[00:34:04] Babies are born all the time.
[00:34:07] What makes this baby different?
[00:34:09] This baby died for a purpose. But guys, the crucifixion is powerless without the resurrection. A lot of people in Rome were crucified.
[00:34:19] A lot of people in Rome died in all different kinds of terrible ways.
[00:34:24] Why?
[00:34:25] Because the Incarnation is meaningless without the crucifixion. And the crucifixion is meaningless without the resurrection. When God raised Jesus from the dead, it's not Easter Sunday, but we're go there. When God raised Jesus from the dead, he made a declaration before heaven and hell, for all of humanity, for all of history.
[00:34:42] This is the Son of God. No one else. This is the Son of God.
[00:34:48] This is the payment for sins. Everything this guy said about himself is real and it is true and it is objective. This is the only way of salvation. This is the only one that can divide humanity between saved and unsaved, forgiven, unforgiven, destined to heaven or destined to hell. Jesus is the one who holds the keys of death and Hades. It's him, no one else. This is the one who divides everything.
[00:35:11] And so every single person on the planet has got to figure out, what am I gonna do with Jesus? And if you avoid him, it is to your own damnation and detriment. Why do we have to go dark on this? Because from the very beginning, the birth was always about the death. The death was always about the resurrection. And the resurrection was always for his glory and your salvation.
[00:35:30] So if we just stop at Christmas and fluffy bunnies and good feelings and presents, we have missed the whole point.
[00:35:38] So at number two this Christmas, nothing is more pressing than your relationship to Jesus.
[00:35:46] I want to read this for you. Hebrews 9:27. Put on the screen as well. Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.
[00:35:59] This is the framework that Jesus has for humanity.
[00:36:02] You have this life and this life only to deal with Jesus. And after that, I wish it was different, but the Scriptures are blunt and clear. There are no second chances. This is your chance.
[00:36:14] And if you are here and you know that you have never come to God and said, one, I have sinned, I am sorry. And number two, I believe in Jesus. Jesus, your life, death, and resurrection for my sins. And you know what? I am done being my own God. My allegiance is to you. If you've never come to him, this is what's called repentance. You say you're sorry, you transfer your allegiance. If you've never come to him and made him your God, I just have awesome news.
[00:36:44] As divisive as he is with humanity, as honest and exposing as he is, he already knows all your worst sins.
[00:36:53] And his hand is always extended for forgiveness. That is awesome news. So if you've never trusted in Christ, I just want to invite you at any time. You can come before him, anywhere. Say, God, I'm sorry. Save me, forgive me. And here's what I love. When you come to Christ, I'm gonna talk about two simple gifts.
[00:37:09] You get number one, forgiveness of sins, once for all, forever. Amen on that.
[00:37:13] And you get the Holy Spirit.
[00:37:15] And the Holy Spirit will continue to not just expose, but to transform and to encourage you. And you can try to get rid of the Holy Spirit. You will never, ever get rid of the Holy Spirit. He is unrelenting. You can quench him, you can silence him, but he always has a way. So when you start walking away, he's like, just kidding. Not gonna let you do that. I'm gonna torture you emotionally until you come back. I'm not gonna let you sin and live a life of rebellion. He's just got this unbelievable way. And God has two great gifts for every person who trusts in Christ. Total forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit until Jesus comes back. Amen. Village. Amen. We got a bunch of kids who are coming in here ready to sing us a song. So I'm gonna pray, and then we're gonna have these kiddos come in. Father, we love you, we thank you, and it's our joy to now have these beautiful, incredible kids lead us in worship. And we just confess to you that our worship is a response to everything you've done for us through your kindness, your goodness, and generosity. We love you. We pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen, kids.
[00:38:14] Amen.
